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Hey everyone, after a long search for a 3rd gen Camaro I fell upon a deal on a 92 Firebird that I just couldn't pass up. The deal was 2 Firebirds for $1500.00. Two whole cars. One is a Formula 305 TBI, the other was a v6 nothing special parts car with no title. I love this car! Ive been working on it literally since I got her home, her name is Dorthy...Dorthy meet the guys...girls......ok. I found her on craigslist and walked with $1500.00 cash across south Pueblo to meet a very sad seller that wanted to say his last goodbye before I took her home. Of course I gave him the time he needed with her.
The driver door didn’t shut right at first and opened even worse, I though it was bad *** cause it’s a T top, I just jumped over it cause Dorthy’s a race car.
And the saga begins.
Anyway I've done a full tune up of course, completely rebuilt throttle body except for the fuel pressure regulator. I did one and screwed it up so had to put the old one back on it. Ran out of time. I wished I could have spent more time but Its the only set of wheels I have at the time and it was after 10:00 (Im having a serious timing crisis with my 97 Tahoe crawler/daily driver but thats another thread in itself) and it is my wifes daily driver to work. (thats what originally it was bought for)
116,000 original miles.
After the usual shakedown tune and lube I’ve run into a few issues.
The first one is the fan that was bypassed by the original owner to a toggle switch. Ugly mess but solid and road worthy for now.
Second issue, Windshield wiper switch/wiring
This one is a complicated one. Ive spent a day going through the wiring to find that I had some shorts in my fusebox, several unknown wires that look like a stereo gone bad, and charred areas in the fuse box from some electrical burning.
For now I had to bypass the wipers with another toggle switch and take out the clutch/gear in the wiper motor. If anyone knows what that is called please tell me because it took me a few hours to figure out why my wipers were only traveling an inch back and forth. I’m telling you I al lost my cool big time on these. My friend and I spent a whole day on figuring the wiring out to where the problem was, then ran out of time because he had church to go to. He’s an older guy, cool old retired machinist though. But what it takes is taking the white gear on the right of the inside of the wiper box out so the main gear is forced to engage every time.
My plan with this is to splice a new fuse box and various other wiring parts from the v6 car to the v8. Solder it, make it nice.
Any guidance or insight on these wiring issues would be appreciated. Ive had several GM TBI’s but this is my first F body.
Another issue is there is a thumping noise when I accelerate under the passenger side floor. After some research I think this is a transmission mount or a torque arm. I’ll find out tomorrow if the snow isn’t too bad.
How do I find out if I have a POSI without popping the cover? Or is there even a way? I’ve looked up the casting number but haven’t really come up with anything.
Im taking the cat off, to my understanding one of the O2 spacers will take care of this unlike the chips I had to wire in for my vortec?
I’m going to be ordering some chip programming hardware here soon, I’m brand new at the tuning thing so any advice on that would be appreciated too. What software does everyone recommend?
Thanks for reading ladies and gents! Hope to hear from you soon! Im going to get more info on the tranny and block number tomorrow as well so ill update then!
Looks like it may just be a base car and not a Formula. Rpo codes will tell ya. The thumping noise you hear is most likely the transmission mount. Make sure the bolts for it arent loose or missing. To check for a posi rear just jack the rear of the car up and spin the wheels. They should both rotate the same way. Being a 305 tbi car I guarantee it's a open diff. Goodluck with your project, they are fun daily drivers
RPO codes for these cars will be un the bottom of the lid in the rear hatch lockable compartment.
Look for W66=formula and WS6= standard formula suspension. G80 is limited slip.
Just by looking, I'm betting you have 2 base birds. Good luck!
I love the 91-92 birds. The TB I engine should be a great daily driver. Mine will get over 25mpg on highway trips even after swapping to 3.73 gears. Of all the third gens I've had everything from CFI,TPI, carbs. TBI has been the most reliable and trouble free. Good luck with your Bird
Thanks! so far it really has been a great daily. My wife (who is picky about what she drives) is loving it, however it doesn't go fast enough and the interior is dull and boring. Only two complaints. I'm trying to find a good deal somewhere so if you know of any good websites let me know. Going for something that looks decent and cheap, even maybe china stuff if its available. Racing seats etc . I'm also going to be diving into the suspension brakes and other drive train parts in about a week. This weekend is the big online parts shopping day. Probably going with adjustable shocks some moog stuff etc etc. Love this car though
Yeah after searching the RPO codes I have 2 base birds. Bummer. However its a salvage title and that just opens full possibility to mod the **** out of everything without loosing any value in the car. So far its been a great fun daily driver. It could be faster though. Its Very Very stock. But everything is in working order. Any suggestions?
My car shares the same drivetrain as yours .Yes they are slow and yes they are boring. My mods started with 3.73 Posi rear end, S10 torque converter "maybe 2300-2400stall", 3in exhaust, shift kit, 14psi spring on my throttle body, and aftermarket chip. All these things made it feel much better, like a different car honestly. Good thing is most all these mods go right over with a 350 swap later as I didn't want to drop $ into a 305.
To spruce up the interior some you can grab seats out of a 4th gen 1994-2000 or 2000-2002 look better IMO. A dash cover, and new carpet. Make new door panels and headliner and they look pretty good. Easiest way to tell if its posi... do a burn out does one spin or two?
Getting more power out of it is where you will spend the $$ -- depending on your skill level and wallet a vortec, lt1, ls1 swap gives you a better starting point... Otherwise some of the basic mods above will give it some pickup... but its a old 305 so most 4 cylinder cars today have more HP. Depending on emissions where you live a carb 350 is a super easy swap. There are not good turbo/no3 kits for the TBI intake.
The Door, you can get hinge rebuild kits that will help alot, look at top down solutions I think he is the only one that makes top hinge rebuild kits... or if the v6 doors open better steal parts from it.
This fellow (who is also a Michigan F-body.com member) has gauge trim rings. I have some on my car (though not his "brand"), and while a simple change, I fell like they really make a big visual impact.
I love the 91-92 birds. The TB I engine should be a great daily driver. Mine will get over 25mpg on highway trips even after swapping to 3.73 gears. Of all the third gens I've had everything from CFI,TPI, carbs. TBI has been the most reliable and trouble free. Good luck with your Bird
Most people talk trash about the TBI setup, but what you just said was exactly why we decided to go with one, 25 mpg and you cant beat the reliability
My car shares the same drivetrain as yours .Yes they are slow and yes they are boring. My mods started with 3.73 Posi rear end, S10 torque converter "maybe 2300-2400stall", 3in exhaust, shift kit, 14psi spring on my throttle body, and aftermarket chip. All these things made it feel much better, like a different car honestly. Good thing is most all these mods go right over with a 350 swap later as I didn't want to drop $ into a 305.
When you say s10 torque converter do you mean taken out of an s10? Any recommendations on a shift kit?
A torque converter for an S10 from around 92-96 will give you around 220-2300 stall. I forget exactly which one I used but it was a daaco 96 model i believe. I actually used same one I had seen someone else recommend on this site. EBay is full of higher stall torque converters for 700r4s also. Someone built my transmission and I'm not sure the kit they used either but I will ask him when I see him probably next week. Good luck on your Firebird!
awesome thank you! This will be my first time rebuilding a tranny too so any insight would be much appreciated. Swapped a whole bunch but never rebuilt.
10-14-2018, 07:17 PM
